Pinkie Pie's Bass
by MegaTJ
Summary: Pinkie Pie has been on many adventures before, but when a bass player comes into town, nothing can prepare her for the barrage of new feelings this new arrival gives to her.
1. A Late Night's Guest

A Late Night's Guest

Luna's moon casted its cool, radiant light over the land of Equestria. The town of Ponyville was blessed with silence as its residence enjoyed the relaxing comfort of sleep. A cool breeze provided an updraft for the local owls. They glided around the town, in search of anything to satisfy their midnight hunger. In the middle of swooping down to snatch up a scurrying mouse, one of the birds let out a disturbed "HOOT"! The shadow that fell over the bird of prey belonged to a very tired unicorn.

"Owls…" The unicorn rolled his eyes. He walked along at a sluggish, weary pace. He winced with each step. His breathing became heavier by the second and soon he couldn't even walk straight. The next step he took was his last before his hooves gave out. He hit the ground hard and almost flipped forward.

"Oh, great. I was so close…" he groaned. "Looks like I'll be waiting here until somepony finds me. That's what I get for not stopping to camp."

A few minutes dragged by, but to the impatient unicorn, they felt like hours. He looked around for a place he could stop for the night. Many of the buildings were too dark to make out in the night. Thankfully, one shop was brightly lit by the full moon. It was a bakery, that he was sure. The whole building looked like a giant cake! Relief washed over him when he realized it wasn't that far from him. And that there was a light on inside! When he tried to stand, a burning stab hit him right in the bottom of his hooves. He quickly sat back down. An irritated sigh forced its way from his mouth.

"Now how am I getting over there?" He asked angrily. It took about three minutes of thinking until a thought smacked him with reality. He was a _unicorn_ for crying out loud! "Of COURSE I would forget I can do magic!" By concentrating some energy into his horn, he created a force field around his body and carried himself to the door of the shop. When he got there, he misjudged the distance between him and the ground and dropped himself ever-not-so-gently to the ground.

"Owww…" He groaned. He focused another force field. This time he only put it around his hooves and legs so he could stand up. With a deep breath of hope, he raised his hoof and gave the door a gentle knock.

Pinkie Pie nearly jumped out of her skin. At a quarter after twelve at night, the knock sounded like a cannon blast echoing in the kitchen. She shoved a cookie into her mouth and quickly took a sip of her warm milk before standing to answer the door. As she made her way to the door, she couldn't help but wonder who in Equestria would be knocking past midnight.

She pulled open the door to reveal a light navy blue unicorn. She instantly recognized him as a new pony.

"Sorry for knocking so late", he said apologetically, "I just came into town and my hooves are killing me. I was wondering if there was someplace I can crash for the night."

The pink pony thought about it for a second. Mr. and Mrs. Cake wouldn't mind it if she let a tired pony stay for a night. She had done it before. She stepped aside and let him enter.

He made his way over the threshold and stumbled forward. He forgot to concentrate on his magic again. Pinkie Pie immediately helped him back up.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah. Thanks…uh…" He looked at her, expecting to get her name.

"Pinkie Pie", she whispered with a smile. She wished it wasn't in the middle of night. Being quiet wasn't one of her strengths. It also didn't help she was very, very excited.

"Nice name. Mine's Bass Strings. Just call me Strings for short."

She led him into the kitchen. "I have some cookies and milk. Hungry?"

He shook his head. "Nah, not really." He took a seat at the table to give his horn a rest.

"Are you suuuuuurrre?" She grabbed the plate of cookies from the table and held them up to his face enticingly.

He levitated a cookie from the plate. "Umm, thanks."

As he bit into the cookie, Pinkie Pie gulped down her milk, leaving behind a white mustache on her upper lip and nose.

Strings chortled, almost choking on his cookie. "You look funny, Pinkie Pie!" he laughed with his mouth full.

"You sound funny!" she countered.

He shrugged and snagged another cookie.

Snack time lasted only another few minutes before Strings started some serious yawning. "I think now would be a good time to ask where I'm sleeping tonight."

Pinkie Pie dropped the two dishes into the sink. "Come on. You can sleep in my room." She started to walk out.

He stood up. "You sure about that?"

"Mmmhmm!" Pinkie Pie hummed. "I don't think you're a bad pony." She turned in the doorway to the kitchen. "And besides, I think I can take you."

Strings nodded honestly. He followed her up the stairs to her room. The stairwell was dimly lit by gas lamps. The unicorn thought it was old-fashioned, yet super peaceful. His legs were on fire again, but not as bad as before. Pinkie Pie led him down the hallway until she stopped and pushed open a door. The inside of Pinkie's room was hard to make out in the dim light, but Strings saw Pinkie Pie walk to her bed and grab a small blanket and pillow.

"You don't hafta take those for me", Strings objected. He tapped his horn. "I'll just make my own."

"These are for me, silly. You're sleeping in my bed", she replied.

"Miss Pie, that's totally unradical—" He started.

"You need a comfy bed more than I do, besides, I can't sleep tonight anyways. And call me Pinkie Pie", she interrupted.

"I…" he tried, "Thanks, Pinkie Pie."

Strings used his magic to place his guitar beside the bed and climbed into it as Pinkie Pie created a nest-like cot beside it.

As he settled in, Strings thought about what Pinkie Pie had said about her insomnia. He felt bad for her, so he quickly decided to do her a favor. "Pinkie Pie?" He whispered.

"Yes?" She looked up at him as he hung over the bed. "Hmmhmm", she giggled, "you look silly upside down."

"You're the one upside down", he chuckled.

They shared a quick, quiet laugh before he continued. "I wanna thank you for letting me stay here…"

"No thanks necessary, all you have to do is be my friend." She smiled wider.

"Then let that be the first of my six returning favors", he said, "and let this be my second."

Before Pinkie Pie could squeal in excitement at the thought of a new friend, Strings' horn glowed and a short, small burst of sparkly dust fell over her. Her eyes instantly became heavy, and she yawned. Her body became relaxed as the dust rained over her. The last image she saw was his smiling face.

"Two down, four to go. I'm looking forward to it", Strings said to himself. He looked at Pinkie Pie again before turning. "Heh, she should've been named Pretty Pie."

He blushed at the thought. "I hope she likes music." His last yawn was followed by his eyes closing, and finally, sleep found him.

"Wake up…wake up!"

"Mmmmoooommm, it's Saturday. Let me sleep in", Strings complained in his sleep. He rolled over.

A familiar giggle tickled his eardrums. When he opened his eyes, he saw Pinkie Pie standing over him.

"Good morning! Filled with sunshine and pancakes, it's rewarding!" she sang. She bounced throughout the room, continuing her song. "No sleeping in, there is so much that we have to do! So please oh please, keep your eyes open and wakey wakey why don't you? Good morning!"

Strings gaped in awe. "That is one rad singing voice you got there. Heh, it's music to my ears."

They both laughed at his bad joke.

Before he could sit up, she pushed a tray in his lap. "Surprise! Breakfast in bed!"

He eyed the loaded platter. It was piled high with food! "Whoa, where do I begin?" he asked in amazement.

"I like to eat the breakfast cupcakes first. Then, I usually eat the waffles. Then…" she started.

To be honest, Strings really couldn't hear a word she was saying. His heart was pounding so hard that it managed to reach his eardrums. Her eyes were a maze of happiness. Her voice was so her. She was just…well, he couldn't even find a word to come close to describing her.

"…and that's how I eat breakfast." She picked up one of the cupcakes and stuffed it into her mouth.

"I'm not in an eating mood right now, Pinkie Pie. Thanks anyway, though." He hopped off the bed and stretched.

"What do you want to do then?" Pinkie Pie asked. "I mean, I have so many things we can do, but you just got here and you probably wanna do something you wanna do first instead of letting me drag you around!"

"I'm low on cash. I think I'll go look for a job. Hopefully I'll find a gig somewhere." He stretched again and looked up to see Pinkie Pie's confused expression.

"What's a gig?" She asked expectantly.

"That's what I call a job that I can play my guitar at. Sort of a small concert type thing." He began to walk toward the door.

"Ooh, can I help? I play all kinds of instruments." She bounced in place, hoping he would say "yes".

Pinkie Pie's eyes looked directly into his as she waited for the answer. For that moment, he couldn't breathe. It would seem as if all of his internal organs had stopped completely. The only things that worked were his eyes, as they looked right into hers.

Pinkie Pie, however, was confused. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't pry her stare away from his pair of lighter sky blue eyes. It was so strange, just like being lost in the hedge maze back when Discord made it rain chocolate milk. There was a tickly feeling in her tummy. This made her feel weird and giddy at the same time.

Strings did his best to pull himself together. He finally managed to stutter, "S-Sure, Pink. But before you can, I gotta find work first."

Pinkie Pie's heart hit her throat at his answer. She was so happy at the fact that she might get to spend more time with him. And not like the regular kind of happy. She couldn't describe it, but it felt better than the regular happy.

He left through the door and down the stairs. There was bustling in the kitchen of the bakery, but Strings ignored the noise and left to find a bulletin board.

Pinkie Pie followed closely behind, hoping to figure out what those weird feelings were. She would definitely have to ask Twilight about them later.

For some reason completely unknown to her, she wondered if he had a fillyfriend…


	2. A Day in Ponyville

A Day in Ponyville

"Let's see now…" Strings hummed as he examined the examined board outside Ponyville's Town Hall.

Pinkie Pie bounced in place beside him. She watched him carefully scan the job notices. She wanted to try and help him out, so she did her best to think of a way to get him work. Then, she got an idea. "Why don't you come help me and the Cakes at Sugarcube Corner?"

Strings chuckled. "Heh, no thank you. I would love to, but cakes burn to a crisp if I even _look_ at a kitchen." He thought back to a time when he could actually _swim_ through the smoke that filled his mother's kitchen.

Pinkie Pie tried to think of something else. Her second idea got her very excited. "Ooh, I know! I can teach you how to bake! I wasn't so good at it at first either, but I had a good teacher, and I think I'm a good teacher so…"

As Strings listened to her proposal and several explanations, he couldn't help but smile. Pinkie Pie's happiness seemed to radiate from her. He never thought that he could feel happiness on the outside like that. Then, he knew that a job could wait a while. He wanted to become real good friends with her fast, first.

"Pinkie Pie", he stated.

She stopped, ready to hear what he had to say.

"Maybe you can help me out. Why don't you show me around so I don't get lost?"

Pinkie Pie flew into the air. "Yes! Where do you want to go first? You can meet my friends! Then we can go to my favorite prank shop, and then we can get a cook book at the library so I can teach you to bake. And I'll show you my favorite party spots!"

Strings smiled wider. "Lead the way, Pink."

Pinkie Pie cheered again and tore off in the direction of Rainbow Dash's home.

Strings dashed after her, glad that he used to run cross country. As soon as he caught up to her, she stopped without even slowing down, causing him to flinch and stumble forward. He came to a rolling stop ahead of her. On his back, he looked back to see Pinkie Pie laughing upside down.

"Do you like being upside down or something", Strings called. He smiled widely as Pinkie Pie bounced up to him.

"No, you must really like being upside down! You do it all the time!" Pinkie Pie trotted over and put her face directly above his.

The way the light bordered Pinkie Pie made Strings gasp inwardly. It lit up her mane and coat as if she were in a real-life golden picture frame. Over and over again, he kept thinking: _She's so pretty…_

"Your face is turning red. It looks silly!" Pinkie Pie giggled.

Strings quickly flipped over and took a few silent deep breaths to force his blush to go away. He smiled brightly at Pinkie Pie. She smiled back.

"Weren't we going somewhere?" He asked, before the silence grew awkward.

She nodded and then started to hop—more slowly—to Rainbow Dash's. "We're going to see my bestest friend Rainbow Dash! She's the best flyer in all of Equestria!"

"Rainbow Dash?" Strings quietly echoed. "Why does that name ring a bell? Was that the pony I met back in—"

"She also loves to prank, just like me! Do you like to prank?" Pinkie continued, interrupting his thoughts.

"I like a good laugh, yeah. I can't do it by myself, but I can if I have the stuff to do it, like a squirting flower", he answered.

"That's why we're going to the prank shop later!" Pinkie Pie rang.

Strings decided to change topics. He really needed to know something. "Pink, do you really think you can teach me to bake?" he asked. He was hoping she could; he liked to eat sweets, and if she could teach him, then he could do something very special for them both.

"Absolutely! I can teach you, and then we can have a party to celebrate it! You can even bake the cake!"

"That's great. And maybe I can teach you how to play the guitar. I've taught plenty of ponies, and you can be my—"

"I would love to! I don't know how to play the guitar, and I really want to know how! I can play a banjo, but it's really different from a guitar! I know some ponies that know, but I never thought that I could do it just like them!" she interrupted. As it stood, Pinkie Pie would walk through the Everfree Forest if it was on fire to just spend time with him. It was really confusing her. She really liked to be around him. More than she liked to be around anypony else. Strings was just so nice, and he enjoyed being around her too.

"Then that will be my third returning favor", Strings said. He decided to add a cool effect and used his magic to create the number three with sparkling magic dust in front of them.

As pretty and exciting as the numerical symbol was, Pinkie Pie was more curious about this "favor". "'Third returning favor'?"

"Yep", Strings said, popping the word cheerfully. "Whenever a pony shows me an act of radical kindness, I give him or her six very special returning favors. The first one you got was me being your friend. The second was the sleep spell. And now the third is guitar lessons! Each favor gets more and more special as the number gets bigger, so the sixth is the most awesome! I can't wait!" The sheer thought of the favors made him ecstatic. He had always loved the policy and the fun he had with them was a new experience every time.

Pinkie Pie looked at him. "You don't have to do that. I didn't mind letting you rest."

He chuckled, "Heh, you aren't the first that's told me that. I have a simple statement for you: These special favors are like wishes, except these are sure to come true every time. I wouldn't want you to miss out on a wish." He sighed happily.

"Well, I really don't need wishes. I have everything I want already. Thanks anyways though!" Pinkie Pie continued to bounce down the path.

Bass Strings smiled. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. _Soon, she'll see that she's missing something. Everypony else has, _he thought.

"We're here!" Pinkie Pie cheered. She quickly bounced up to Rainbow Dash's cloud fortress of a home. "Rainbow Dash! Hey! Rainbow Dash are you home!?"

"Yo! Rainbow Dash!" Strings called.

After two minutes of hearing their calls, the rainbow-maned Pegasus burst from the clouds and backflipped her way down to them. She landed softly, and the look she wore on her face boasted her skills.

"Wow! That was super-duper spectacularmazing!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed at Rainbow's ten backflips.

Strings remained silent, even though he was amazed. He decided not to bring attention to himself just yet. He completely remembered Rainbow Dash. He wondered if she remembered him.

"Thanks, Pinkie Pie. That was just something new that I decided to try", Rainbow Dash replied.

"Rainbow Dash, I have a new friend I want you to meet!" Pinkie Pie moved to the side and presented Strings. "This is Bass Strings. He came to Sugarcube Corner in the middle of the night last night and needed a place to rest. I know what it's like to be tired, so I let him come in and sleep. He also plays the guitar and he's gonna teach me soon! He likes to prank just like us and—"

Rainbow Dash interrupted her, "Pinkie Pie, if you tell me everything right now, I won't have anything left to learn."

"Oh, good idea! I didn't think about that", the pink ball of energy stated.

Strings chuckled and grabbed Rainbow's awaiting hoof. "Nice to see ya again, Rainbow Dash."

Confused, Rainbow Dash asked, "Do I know you?"

Strings smirked. "You should. Manehattan's thirteenth annual Battle of the Bands contest? Remember, I was the runner up?"

Rainbow Dash tried her best to rob her memory banks. Then, it clicked. "Oh, yeah! How can I forget such an awesome bass player?"

"You already know each other?" Pinkie Pie asked.

"Well, sorta. You see, Rainbow Dash and I both played in a big music contest a few years back. She played guitar and vocals so good that she was just one point away from a perfect score on her first run."

"The next few judges had it in for me I tell ya", Dash continued, "I had to play my hardest just to get a barely decent score."

"They weren't so easy on me either. I had to pull my best solos to get to the finals", Strings explained.

"After that it was just me, him, and a rookie drummer", Rainbow Dash told Pinkie Pie.

"Who won?" Pinkie Pie asked, astonished.

Rainbow Dash and Bass Strings looked at each other, then at the ground, smiling sheepishly.

"The rookie drummer", they said in unison.

"Oh, well, I'm sure he just got lucky. I bet that he couldn't beat you two now even if he tried", Pinkie Pie said.

"And I still think it was rigged…" Rainbow Dash grumbled.

"I told ya back then, and I'll say it again, Rainbow: I didn't deserve second place. I messed up so many times that I should have gotten third", Strings said to Rainbow Dash. He didn't realize that he had just proved her point.

She huffed, and changed the subject. "I'm on weather patrol detail as of five minutes ago. I have to fly before I lose my job." She quickly spread her wings and rocketed into the sky, heading for the Weather Watch Post.

Strings looked at Pinkie Pie. She opened her mouth to say something, but suddenly, her tail started to twitch violently. Instinctively, she grabbed him, and jerked him aside.

Caught off guard, Strings lost his balance and fell to the ground, flat on his face.

Pinkie Pie giggled, "Sorry, but you almost got squished!"

Strings looked up to see a gray Pegasus scrambling to her hooves. She brushed herself off and reached into her mailbag and presented a letter to Strings. "Got a letter for ya!" Derpy Hooves announced.

Strings levitated the letter over to him. "Uh, thanks", he said uneasily.

"Heya, Pinkie Pie!" Derpy greeted, walking over and hugging the Element of Laughter.

"Hi, Derpy! So, what happened this time?" Pinkie Pie replied cheerfully. She pointed to the Pegasus-shaped imprint in the dust of the path.

"Oh, I think I miscalculated the wind speed as I landed." Derpy stated. She stretched her legs, "Sorry, I don't have time to chat! Lots more letters to deliver!"

With that, she bolted into the air as Rainbow Dash had done a few minutes ago. Pinkie Pie bounced over to Strings, who had yet to open his letter.

"How'd you know she was going to land on me?" he asked, uninterested in the paper he was levitating.

"Oh, that was just my Pinkie Sense!" she simply responded.

"Pinkie Sense?" he asked, "That sounds so cool! What is it?"

"Well", Pinkie Pie began, "it works like this. I get little, different feelings that mean different things."

"What kinds of feelings?" Strings leaned closer to her.

"Well, when my tail gets twitchy, that means something's gonna fall. If my ears starts flopping, that means somepony's gonna get dirty! There's a lot more too."

"Whoa! That is some radical power. Can I learn how to do that?" Strings was nose to nose with her now.

He was making her tummy getting tickly again, but she still answered, "I don't think I can teach you. The feelings come and go randomly. I don't control it." She shrugged and changed the subject, "What's the letter say?"

Strings snapped back out of his thoughts. "Oh, yeah. Let's take a look-see."

He peeled the envelope open and levitated the letter out. In his mother's hoofwriting, were the words:

_To my Dearest Bass Strings:_

_ I hope you are doing well on your journey. I write to you now to inform you that a very important pony has asked for you by name. I don't know, but it would seem as if he is looking for your musical talents. I know that you will most likely turn him down, but I thought you may have wanted to know anyway. I sent his card with this letter for you to look at later._

_I am feeling fine, so please do not worry. The main reason I am writing is to tell you that Snare and Bass have both come back to Melodyville. They came right to me and they wanted to apologize for what happened. I know how much you want to apologize to them too, but I told them you were still searching for Harmony. They have both already apologized to Sise, and she has done the same. Bass spoke for all of them when he said that he wanted to get the five of you back together._

_Good luck in your search, Sweetheart. Don't forget to stop by soon!_

_With lots of love,_

_Harp Strings A.K.A.: Your Mother_

"It's a letter from Mom", Strings said, trying to conceal the mixture of feelings inside him. He teleported the letter to Pinkie Pie's room where he could read over it again later.

Pinkie Pie jumped up, "Ooh, what's it say, what's it say!?"

"She wrote to tell me mom stuff", Strings half-lied. His belly growled. "Oh, jeez. I can't believe I didn't eat breakfast."

"Ooh! I know just the place to go for lunch!" Eagerly, Pinkie Pie grabbed his hoof and dragged him across Ponyville.

Strings didn't even try to resist.


	3. Friendship In Progress

Friendship In Progress

Strings started to sweat. His concentration was unbroken, though he couldn't help but get nervous. The current challenge was one of pure will power. Doubt crept into his mind through the stress, but he quickly shook it away; he could win this, he just needed to hang in there for just another few moments. There was no way Pinkie Pie would outlast him. His eyes burned fiercely, but he kept up the fight.

Pinkie Pie watched him, completely unaffected by what was happening. She had been doing this her entire life, and has only ever been beaten by one pony. As she watched him struggle, she knew it would only be a matter of time. He would fold any second now. She, on the other hoof, still had at least two hours left in her.

Any on looking pony couldn't help but admire Strings' determination, although any attempt to beat Pinkie Pie at this battle of wits would be futile to even the most stubborn of ponies. He still fought on, ignoring the agonizing pain that came with the challenge. His will was going to be hard to break. His eyes started to water as he continued the challenge.

_Ten…more…seconds!_ He pleaded in his head. Even his thoughts were strained, showing how much he had left in him. Each of those ten grueling seconds drug by, tormenting him. _Aargh! I can't take it anymore!_

Strings couldn't hold it in any longer. He was at his absolute maximum threshold. Quickly, to douse the metaphorical flames that burned his eyes, he blinked in defeat. "That's it! I'm done!" he begged, "I give up. You win."

"Yay!" Pinkie Pie cheered. She jumped up from her seat on the ground and started to dance around as Strings used his magic to create and wave a white flag.

"You're just lucky", Strings said, rubbing his still stinging eyes. "I haven't been in a staring contest in a long time."

Pinkie Pie didn't hear him over her dancing and cheering. Strings shook his head sarcastically. He concentrated his magic energy and a small bag of bits appeared in front of him.

He withdrew four bits from it. "Here ya go, Applejack."

The Earth Pony held up her hoof. "Ah don't think so, partner", Applejack stated, "Friends eat free."

Though surprised, Strings decided not to argue. He put the bits back into his bag and returned it back to its hiding place. Applejack's apples were definitely worth the bits she charged for them, and Strings didn't exactly feel right not paying. He wondered just how Applejack could warm up literally in a matter of minutes, but she interrupted his thoughts.

"Ah think Pinkie Pie's tryin' to get yer attention", she giggled.

Strings turned and realized Pinkie Pie had been poking his shoulder the whole time he was in his thoughts and was staring at him with wide eyes. "Oh, sorry, Pink. I was thinking about something."

"That's okay!" she rang, "I sometimes get caught up in my thoughts too! Sometimes it's about cupcakes, but mostly it's about parties!"

"Pinkie Pie, yer always thinkin' about parties", stated Applejack with a chuckle.

"Always", Pinkie Pie hissed, wide-eyed.

Strings snickered at her silliness. "Oh, wait. Pinkie Pie, whatcha need?"

Pinkie Pie thought about the question for a second. "Oh, yeah! I was going to ask you if you were ready to go meet my friend Rarity!"

"That sounds radical. Sure thing", Strings said happily.

"Yay!" cheered Pinkie Pie again, "Follow me!" Pinkie Pie jumped into the air and literally flew in the direction of the Carousel Boutique her hooves were moving so fast.

"Heheh, it was nice meeting you Applejack. The apples were awesome!" Strings told the farm pony. "See ya later."

"It was nice meetin' y'all too. Take care now."

"I will as long as Pinkie Pie doesn't break me!"

He left Applejack laughing as he turned to follow the Pink Wonder.

Strings walked along Pinkie Pie's flight path, hoping that he would find where the party pony had landed. The unicorn kept walking around until he found himself lost in the town. He passed by several buildings he was sure he had passed already. He was already irritable due to the heat of the day beating down on him. "Argh, tree sap!" he cursed. He sighed. "I guess there's only one thing left to do." He took a deep breath. "Pinkie Pie!" he shouted, "Where are you?!"

"Here I am!" she replied, having suddenly appeared right next to him.

"Wah!" he yelped. Pinkie Pie's abrupt arrival made him jump and fall over.

She giggled herself to the ground right next to him. Strings started to laugh with her. They both kept laughing until their lungs couldn't take the punishment any longer. They lay there, breathing heavily. Strings clambered to his hooves first, and then pulled Pinkie Pie up.

Once again, Pinkie Pie got that tickly feeling in her tummy. But now something new was happening. It felt like her face was starting to get really hot. She didn't have a fever, maybe it was the heat of the day or because she was just laughing so hard. She would definitely have to ask Twilight what these weird feelings were. She didn't think they were bad, but they did make her feel awkward.

Strings looked at Pinkie Pie. Her cheeks were starting to become even pinker. _Is…is she blushing? _he asked himself. He decided to say something in case she was becoming nervous or embarrassed. "How in Equestria did you come out of nowhere like that?" he asked.

The blush left Pinkie Pie's face as she forgot about the feeling in her stomach. "That's a secret! I can't tell you. Sorry!"

"Oh, come on, Pink. Any secret is safe with me", he guaranteed. "I'll tell no pony. I promise on my guitar!"

As reassuring as his promise was, she still didn't think he was ready to handle it, yet. "No can do!"

"Heh, okay, what if…" he started, trying to come up with an offer, "…I can show you something just as awesome before tonight?"

Pinkie Pie rubbed her chin. That seemed fair enough. "Hmm…Oki Doki Loki! But it has to be really amazifying!"

"Deal." Strings said. He turned around. "Come on, let's go meet your friend."

"Just follow me!" Pinkie Pie bounced in the direction Strings started walking.

He walked beside her, wondering just which trick he knew would be enough to match Pinkie's teleporting or whatever it was she did. He didn't have to think for too long before he found it. It could wait until later, though. He wanted to know a little about Rarity before he met her.

"What's Rarity like?"

"Rarity makes dresses for lots of ponies! She's really polite and she loves to make new friends", Pinkie Pie replied excitedly.

"Does she do more than just dresses?" Strings asked. He could truly use another water-proof jacket for stormy travels.

"Yep, she makes scarves, capsies, bootsies, coatsies you name it!"

They continued along until the very clean, and very fashionable, Carousel Boutique came into their line of sight.

Strings smiled deviously. "Hey, Pink."

"Yes?"

He excitedly shouted, "Race you there!" He took off, completely sure that he caught the pink pony off guard.

Pinkie Pie, however, wasn't even caught in a moment's hesitation. She was right next to him almost as soon as he started running. Strings saw her, and pushed it a little harder. In retaliation, Pinkie Pie lengthened her bounces, pulling ahead and leaving Strings staring at her tail.

He slowed his gallop as he approached the front door of the boutique where Pinkie Pie stopped to wait for him. "That's two for two, Pink. Is there nothing you're completely awesome at?"

"There are some things. No pony is perfect at everything they do!" Pinkie Pie bounced through the door, leaving Strings to do nothing but follow her. The bell of the shop rang.

The inside air was cool, pulling Strings in like a magnet. The shop was very neat and tidy, with the exception of a few textile supplies lying about. He split off from Pinkie Pie to go explore, hoping to find a catalog or something with pictures of regularly made clothes.

"Welcome to the Carousel Boutique", greeted a gray unicorn, "Where every garment—Oh! Hello Pinkie Pie. Have you come to visit Rarity?"

"Hey, Linen! Yep, I have a new friend I'm showing around!" Pinkie Pie said energetically.

"A new pony?" Linen asked. He gazed around Pinkie Pie to see Strings exploring the shelves of the boutique. Linen walked over to introduce himself. "Excuse me."

Strings turned around to see a hoof extended out to him.

"Hello!" Linen said brightly, "I am Linen Fiber. I don't believe we've met."

Awkwardly, Strings shook the colt's hoof. "We haven't. I'm Strings. Bass Strings."

"Welcome to Ponyville, Bass Strings." Linen smiled, "If you have any fashion needs whatsoever, please don't hesitate to come by the Carousel Boutique!"

Strings hesitated his reply, "Uh…Thanks?"

"Where's Rarity?" Pinkie Pie asked, popping up in between them.

"You'll find her in the back taking measurements", Linen responded, adjusting his green-rimmed glasses.

"Let's go!" Pinkie Pie grabbed Strings and pulled him into the Boutique's show room, where Rarity usually dresses her close friends in custom ordered—and very fashionable—attire.

Inside, Ponyville's assistant librarian stood on the display pedestal, holding out his right foreleg for Rarity. The measuring tape Rarity was using floated next to Dream's leg. She noted the length and continued.

"And now for your wings, Dream Runner", Rarity said.

He extended his wings out to their full length. "Like this?" he asked.

"Perfect!" Rarity chimed. She set the tape on a table and several light blue fabrics floated across the room from their resting places and wrapped around and conformed to Dream Runner's body. A pair of scissors trimmed them and Rarity focused on sewing the fabrics together. As she converged and shaped the cloths, Rarity also concentrated on creating a hood for Dream Runner's new cloak. When the general form of the cloak took shape, a thin, light green fabric drifted over to Dream Runner. Rarity sewed the green trim to the cloak and stood back to admire her work.

"Hmm…" Rarity pondered, "It still needs something…aha!" Rarity searched one of her textile drawers for the last element of Dream's ensemble. She came back levitating a spool of golden thread.

"Now hold perfectly still…" Rarity threaded a needle and began to stitch something on the cloak's left shoulder. She stepped back a final time. "Finished! What do you think, Dream Runner?"

Dream examined what Rarity had just stitched on the cloak. In perfect, gold cursive was his initials. He looked up and turned to see himself in the mirrors at different angles. "It's really comfortable and just my color. I love it, Rarity. Thank you."

"You are most certainly welcome. It was my pleasure to create it for you", Rarity replied.

He hopped down. "So…are you sure it will be okay for me not to pay?" he asked quietly.

"Of course, dear! What kind of friend would I be if I charged you for a simple cloak?" Rarity answered. "It was my pleasure and your birthday, after all!"

"…Thank you again, Rarity. I will take very good care of it…I promise", Dream Runner stated.

"That is all I ask of you", Rarity said. "And I hope to see you wear it for your birthday."

"I will…" Dream Runner sheepishly gave her a hug of thanks. "I have to get back to the library and show Twilight my new cloak", he said. He left for the back door, not noticing the two new ponies in the room.

"Okay, Pinkie Pie. You have been patient long enough. What can I do for you?" Rarity asked, finally turning around.

Pinkie Pie jumped up, expelling all of the energy she had just kept contained sitting quietly by the door. "I have a new friend! His name's Bass Strings. He plays the guitar and he's gonna teach me how!" Pinkie remembered what Rainbow Dash had said and decided not to tell Rarity every little fact she knew about Strings.

Strings stepped forward, offering his hoof to Rarity.

She shook it politely. "I'm Rarity. Charmed to meet you, Bass Strings."

He smiled, "You too. And it's just Strings."

"Strings…I assume you have already met Linen Fiber?"

Strings nodded. "He's kinda right up front, huh?"

"That's Linen for you", Rarity agreed with a sigh, remembering the day she first met the gray unicorn. The memory gave her a new thought as she glanced to Pinkie Pie. "Will you be staying long, Strings?"

"Maybe a couple of months", Strings said. "Why?"

Rarity's ears drooped so slightly that no pony else in the room would have been able to tell. Even her response was just slightly dithered. "No reason. I was merely curious."

Strings nodded. He turned to Pinkie Pie. "You wanna stay a little while, or jet on outta here?"

"Unless Rarity needs anything, we can go to the library next." Pinkie Pie looked at Rarity.

"I do apologize, but I have a large order that needs my attention. I don't have much more time to dawdle", Rarity lied. She held her breath, hoping they bought it. Neither of them could see through her, even though it killed her to lie to her friends.

"Okay then, we'll see ya another time Rarity", Strings said.

The fashion designer followed them out. She sighed sadly after the door was closed. Luckily, Linen was too busy cleaning the lenses to his glasses to notice.

Outside, Strings followed closely behind Pinkie Pie. He wondered when exactly he should show her his special trick. He knew, as well as any musician, that performance was all about timing. He also knew that thinking about it would only further delay the moment he could use to present it. So, the guitarist decided to say something.

"Ya know, I'm really excited to learn how to bake", he told Pinkie Pie.

"I knew it! There isn't a pony I know that hasn't been excited about baking", Pinkie Pie replied.

"How long for you?" Strings asked curiously.

"Ever since I was real little. I moved in with the Cakes right after some of my first parties and they taught me the secrets of the trade." Pinkie Pie fondly remembered the first—big—cake she had made by herself. She was covered in icing and cake mix, but she was proud of the sugary giant.

"Radical", Strings complimented, "If that's the case I should learn in no time from a pro like you!"

"I hope you learn fast, because I'm going to throw you the biggest of all parties when you bake a cake without any help!" Pinkie Pie blurted. A silent gasp entered her lungs. That wasn't meant to reach his ears! She nervously looked back at Strings.

He seemed to be too focused on something going on in his head to hear her. "Phew…" she sighed. That was a close one.

Strings' mind was now occupied on what he would want to bake first. Definitely not a cake. No, not at first. Maybe brownies or cupcakes. Yeah, something like that. When he came back to the real world, he heard Pinkie Pie ending a description of her friend Twilight Sparkle. _Oops…I guess I wasn't paying attention, _he thought. _Oh, well…_

After that she fell silent, having nothing else to say. To be honest, she was afraid to say anything. She had just practically announced to Ponyville that she had planned another surprise party for her friend. She had been too relaxed earlier when she was on the subject. It didn't happen often, but when something did slip, she usually refused to talk as much.

The silence that came from her caught Strings' attention. Something was up, but he didn't know exactly what. So, he decided to make her beautiful voice ring again. The sky blue unicorn sneaked up on Pinkie Pie. As he trotted along next to her, he looked in a different direction and tapped Pinkie Pie on the side.

"You're it!" he shouted, tearing off in a random direction.

Pinkie Pie was instantly on his tail. "Not for long!" she yelled.

Strings knew he couldn't outrun her forever, so he decided to call on his agility rather than his speed. He bided his time and when Pinkie Pie got close enough to tag him back, he turned so hard that his hooves nearly slid out from under him. He used his tail as a counterweight and managed to keep his balance. Pinkie Pie was thrown off by the sudden turn. She attempted to follow him, but kept sliding in her previous direction. Luck was on her side, however. In her skid, she saw where he was running and stopped. She swiftly slipped into a hiding spot.

Strings slowed to a trot after noticing Pinkie Pie's absence. "Huh?" He looked around. "Where is she?" He stayed on his guard, full well knowing the rules of tag didn't forbid an ambush. His gaze studied his surroundings. He watched every shadow and inspected every perch. But the attack didn't come. With every step, he couldn't help but wonder if he really did lose Pinkie Pie.

He walked until he came to a flower stand. The mare running it was preoccupied with a customer, so she didn't see him. The whole stand was filled with a variety of flowers. It could easily hide a prowler. A _pink _prowler. Pinkie Pie used the guitarist's confusion as her cue to pounce.

Strings only saw her shadow. Before he could so much as flinch, Pinkie Pie landed on top of him. The force knocked him to the ground. Strings and Pinkie rolled a short distance before the latter pony hopped up.

"You're it!" she announced.

Some of the passing ponies stopped to see what all the commotion was. They saw Strings stand up and shake himself back to full responsiveness. The crash had dazed him slightly and he was finding his blurry vision irritating. After collecting himself fully, he turned to Pinkie Pie, who was beaming at him.

"That's three for three", he declared. He then added with a chuckle, "Heh, game. Set. Match."

"It's not over yet!" Pinkie Pie said. "There's still a lot more games to play!"

Strings nodded in agreement and followed her as she walked in what he could assume was the direction of the library. The thought of another race crossed his mind, but he quickly shooed it away. Pink would just win anyway. A small smile made itself present on his face. He loved the fact that somepony could beat him in a race. It showed him that he wasn't the best at everything he did. And the fact that Pinkie Pie didn't shove it in his face made it even better.

The library was built into a tree. From Strings' experience, it was expertly crafted. The tree was hollowed out instead of the library built around it like a tree house. He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't notice Pinkie Pie walk in until the door shut behind her. He took a step forward, but decided it would be funny to see how long it would take the party pony to figure out he was still outside.

On the inside, Pinkie Pie made it clear she had just shown up. "Heya Twilight and Dream and Spike and Applebloom!"

"Hey Pinkie Pie", they all said in unison.

Spike noticed the look on Pinkie Pie's face. "I haven't seen that face in a while", he said, "When's the party scheduled?"

"No party this time!" Pinkie Pie replied. "I'm showing my new friend around!"

Four puzzled expressions flew at her. Applebloom spoke up. "Uh, what friend?"

Pinkie Pie looked behind her. Strings wasn't there. She bounced over to the door and opened it, revealing the light blue musician.

"Ta-da!" Strings cheered, "Here I am!" He trotted in, happy to finally be out of the sun again.

"This is my new friend Strings!" Pinkie Pie announced. "He just came into Ponyville and he's super fun!"

"Pinkie Pie, you're too nice", Strings admitted sheepishly.

Twilight stepped forward and offered him her hoof. "Hello, I'm Twilight Sparkle. It's always a pleasure to meet a fellow unicorn."

"Same here", Strings replied. He looked around her and saw Dream Runner, who was trying to be silent. "Hey, I saw you at the Carousel Boutique." Strings walked over to introduce himself.

"Really? I didn't see you there." Dream's voice was barely above a whisper.

"Come on. I'm not that scary", Strings chuckled. "No fangs in my mouth or claws on my hooves."

"I guess not", Dream agreed, more confidently now.

"That's more like it", Strings said.

The Pegasus cracked a smile for his new friend.

At this point, Applebloom introduced herself. She zipped right up to Strings without a second thought. "Howdy, Strings, Ah'm Applebloom."

Strings looked down at her. "You're Applejack's filly sister, aren'tcha?"

"She told ya 'bout me, huh?" Applebloom guessed.

"Nope", Strings chirped, "I can see it in your presentation!"

"Huh?" Applebloom gave him a look that told him she didn't have the slightest clue what he was talking about.

"The way you carry yourself, kiddo", Strings clarified.

"Oh, well, whah didn't y'all jus' say that?"

He chuckled. "You pick up some vocab when you're a stage guitarist."

"Hey, did you guys just forget about me!?" Spike sarcastically shouted. He walked up to Strings.

"Nopony forgot about you", Strings replied, shaking the dragon's claw, "We just overlooked you for a second." He received a couple of giggles from the others as he hovered his hoof above Spike's head. "Just kidding, little bro."

Spike smiled, not at all insulted. It was all in good fun.

Pinkie Pie went on to their second point of business. "Hey, Twilight, do you have any good cook books around?"

Twilight recoiled, dumbfounded. Even Dream, Applebloom, and Spike were surprised. "Pinkie Pie, you live in a bakery. _You_ don't have any?"

"Nope! Me and the Cakes don't use'em because we don't need'em! All of the recipes are right up here!" Pinkie Pie pointed to her head. "I need a book because I'm teaching Strings how to bake and a book would be the best way to teach him!"

Twilight couldn't argue with that logic. If anypony knew the power of knowledge through books it was her. Her horn glowed and three books flew from a nearby shelf. She presented them to the pink mare. "Here, these should do the trick. There's a how-to, a learner's guide, and a book full of simple recipes."

Pinkie Pie scooped them up, turned around, and, with a little Pinkie Pie Magic, put them away in a secret hiding place. She turned to see Strings staring at her again. "It's like the same trick I used earlier", she explained.

"Ah." Strings nodded. "Oh, speaking of that, I know trick to do!"

"I can't wait to see it!"

"Are we missing something", Spike interjected.

"Just a small bet Pink and I have", Strings said simply. He gave her a challenging yet friendly smile.

"I hope it's nothing too serious", Twilight stated. "Sometimes bets can get out of hoof."

"Don't worry Twilight! We have it under control!" Pinkie Pie reassured.

"I hope so", Twilight mumbled to herself.

All of a sudden, Spike burped loudly. The flame that shot out materialized into a scroll with Princess Celestia's seal. Twilight immediately snatched it out of the air as Spike recovered from the belch. She read over the Princess's words.

"What is it Twilight?" Dream asked, peering over her shoulder. His face lit up red when he finished reading it.

"I guess we have some packing to do." Twilight said with a bemused smile. She turned to her assistant librarian. He was still frozen in place, so she turned to the others. "I'm sorry everypony, Dream and I have to go to Canterlot. It's important business for us."

"When do you have to leave?" Strings asked. He usually wasn't nosy, but he hated to bail almost as soon as he got someplace.

"As soon as we can", she replied. "According to the Princess, it's very urgent."

"Oh, is Equestria in danger again?" Pinkie Pie asked, in Strings' opinion, a little too excitedly.

"No, not this time."

"Is there some big important test that librarians have to take?"

"No, Pinkie Pie", Twilight laughed, "I'll keep it secret, for Dream's sake."

They all looked at Dream Runner. He was shaking slightly and beads of sweat were starting to form across his now violet nose. When it became clear that he would be in shock for a while, Twilight turned back to the three ponies in the room.

"I'm sorry, but I don't have any more time to chat. You can still come browse through the library while we're gone. Spike and Applebloom can handle things. Right you two?" Twilight glanced at the two in question.

Spike gave the unicorn a proper salute. "You betcha Twilight! Not one book will be out of place while you're gone! We'll hold down the fort!"

"Raht…what he said." Applebloom continued.

"I guess we'll leave you to pack…" Strings said, disheartened. Man, he really hated to leave so suddenly. He had at least a few more minutes with all of Pinkie Pie's other friends. Well, except Rainbow Dash.

Back out in the heat, Strings and Pinkie Pie were now again alone.

"So…" Strings started, "What now?"

"You've met most of my friends, I guess we can get back to Sugarcube Corner now!" Pinkie Pie cheered. "I can't wait to teach you how to bake brownies, or wait, even better, cookies, or better yet, cupcakes!"

Strings smiled in agreement. "Me neither. I'll show you that thing of mine when we get there too!"

Pinkie Pie didn't hear him, she was already hopping along back to the bakery. He rolled his eyes and followed after her, carefully resisting the urge to challenge her to another race.

He just absolutely couldn't wait to learn how to bake, especially from the pony who would be teaching him.

_Just to spend time with her…_

**Okay, that's it for this trial run, more updates to come, but first, look out for my next one!**


	4. First Lessons

First Lessons

Just as Pinkie's hoof reached the door, she felt a tap on her shoulder.

When she turned around, she jumped in surprise, for standing in front of her, was another Pinkie Pie! She leaned forward curiously. The other Pinkie Pie leaned forward too. She studied the doppelganger closely. Everything was precisely the same. Her eyes, her eyelashes, her mane, even her nose! She leaned her head to the side, and so did the copycat. Even her Cutie Mark was the same! The next few minutes were spent by Pinkie Pie checking out Pinkie Pie. It was almost like looking in a mirror. Every move the real Pinkie Pie made was exactly replicated by the other Pinkie Pie.

The constant mirroring gave Pinkie Pie an idea. She quickly stuck her tongue out. The fake Pinkie did the same. In a matter of five seconds, Pinkie Pie danced on her rear hooves, performed a hoofstand and several cartwheels. She landed back in front of herself. This time, she got the best of the replica. She still had her tongue sticking out. The other Pinkie Pie noticed and started giggling.

"Okay, Pink! You win!" she said in Strings' voice.

"Aha!" Pinkie Pie shouted, "There's only enough room in this town for one Pinkie Pie!"

"You got that right." Pinkie Pie's body slowly faded away from over his. "Not even I can copy you all the way!"

"How'd you do that?" Pinkie Pie asked. "Twilight told me that unicorns can't transform into other ponies without getting stuck that way."

He grinned. In a small flash of light emanating from his horn, Strings changed into Twilight herself. "I bet she also said that the laws of transmutation magic forbid a unicorn from changing his or her cells."

"Hey, she did!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed. "How did you know that?"

"That's what everypony says", Strings chuckled. "But I found a way around that."

"How?"

"Easy." His—well, Twilight's—horn glowed. He explained, "I don't change myself. But I put a picture around me. It's like a real life picture." Now standing in front of her was Applejack. He held out his now long mane to Pinkie Pie. "You can even feel what really isn't there."

Pinkie Pie gave the mane a touch. It felt like the real thing!

"Impressed?" Strings asked boastingly.

She nodded, "But maybe a little more if you can sound like them too! Too bad you can't."

Strings gave her a gloating look. "Oh, no", he said in her voice, "And who says I can't do that?"

"Wow! That's so cool!" She bounced in the air with her rising excitement. "Now do Rainbow Dash!"

He laughed. "Come on, Pink", he said in Rainbow's voice. "It's not that cool." He grinned widely.

Pinkie Pie squealed. "I just got the perfect idea for a prank!"

"What's that?" He dropped the illusion and reverted back to his normal body.

She stepped forward and whispered a long and elaborate Pinkie Pie plan. When she was done, he nodded respectfully.

"Not bad, Pink. Not bad at all."

He opened the door to Sugarcube Corner, letting out all of the sweet and inviting smells. "After you", he said, once again mimicking her voice. After she passed him, he threw another Pinkie Pie picture over himself.

In the kitchen, Mr. and Mrs. Cake were busy making batters and pulling sweets from their many ovens. The demand for treats and cakes in Ponyville had recently taken a huge rise and they were often finding themselves overwhelmed between their jobs and tending to the twins.

"Here you go, Honeybun!" Mrs. Cake called as she slid a freshly baked cake across the counter for him to set aside to cool.

"I think it's about time we hired a little more help around here", Mr. Cake said as he splattered a spatula full of icing onto a chocolate cake. "Business is booming and it's getting hard to keep up with everything. Even with Pinkie Pie around."

"But who could we trust with our recipes?"

Pinkie Pie walked in just as she said that. "I know who!"

"Who dear?" Mrs. Cake asked, throwing another pan into an oven.

"Hang on, I'll be right back!" She flew right back out of the kitchen.

As soon as her tail disappeared, Strings entered through the opposite door. "Hiya, Mr. and Mrs. Cake! How's business today?" Strings did his best to mimic Pinkie's excited and sporadic personality, and was sure he had crashed and burned in his attempt.

"Well, that was fast", said Mr. Cake.

"What was?" The fake Pinkie Pie cocked her head to the side.

The Cakes exchanged confused glances. Cupcake asked, "Didn't you just leave to show us who we could trust to hire?"

"What are you talking about? I just got here!" Strings bounced into the kitchen. "You're not working too hard again are you?"

"It _has_ been busy today", Mr. Cake admitted. He reached for an icing pack to detail his cake. He noticed that it was nearly empty. "Pinkie Pie, could you go into the pantry and fetch a tub of coconut icing for me?"

"I sure can!" Strings bounced to the back of the kitchen. As he disappeared into it, Pinkie Pie bounced through the front door of the kitchen.

"I'm back", she chimed. "He wasn't home, so I'll have to bring him later." She grabbed her apron from the hook by the door and hurriedly tied it around her. She assumed her position at the far counter opposite the wall of the pantry. She grabbed a bowl and some nearby ingredients.

Now the Cakes were very confused, and almost scared that they were going crazy. Mrs. Cake completely stopped what she was doing. "Pinkie Pie weren't you getting icing?"

Taking that as his cue, Strings poked his head out of the pantry. "I am."

The air in the room thickened with terror. The two non-pink ponies looked from one Pinkie Pie to the other, in total disbelief at what their eyes were telling them.

Strings smiled, and walked over to take his place next to the real Pinkie Pie. Simultaneously, they burst into laughter. After a few seconds, they calmed down a bit. Slowly, Strings returned to his original form.

"Mr. and Mrs. Cake", Pinkie Pie announced, "This is Bass Strings! Make sure to call him only Strings though! He's a guitar player who wants to bake and I'm going to teach him how!"

The pressure in the room eased with the sighs of the bakers in relief that the universe hadn't just delivered them another Pinkie Pie.

Mr. Cake liked the looks of this young stallion. If Pinkie Pie wanted to teach him how to bake, then that meant she trusted him. "It's nice to meet you, Strings." Mr. Cake stepped forward. "I take it you are the colt Pinkie Pie was telling us about?"

"Huh?" Strings frowned in confusion. He didn't hear Pinkie Pie tell them about him. And there was no way she could have. He was with her all day.

"For the job, Dear." Mrs. Cake clarified.

"I thought that was part of the prank", he said honestly. He turned his eyes to Pinkie Pie for assistance. "I don't know about a _job_. Music's more me. And I can't bake to save my life. That's why Pink's teaching me."

"We could always have you work part-time." Mrs. Cake suggested. "That way Pinkie Pie can teach you in your spare time."

"Starting now!" Pinkie Pie grabbed Strings and dragged him into the next room.

"Pinkie Pie, what—"

She interrupted him by slipping a tan apron over his head and tying it around him.

"Pinkie!" he shouted with a blush. "What're you doing?!"

"The cakes just offered you a job and I'm your trainer!" She replied happily. She pulled the cookbooks she got from Twilight from their hiding places and set them all up on the counter.

"Pinkie Pie I said I wanted to learn how to bake", he said, struggling to undo the knot she tied into the apron's strings. "Not that I wanted a job baking."

She stopped setting up for his lesson. With a hurt expression, she asked, "You don't want to work with me?"

His fidgeting with the knot ceased. Her tone was a direct hit to his stomach. He quickly came up with an idea. "No it's not that. I'm a music pony, and this whole job thing's kinda sudden. I need a little time to think about it."

"Oh, okay!" Pinkie hid the rest of her disappointment by turning around to put away the supplies.

"Hey, Pink."

She turned to see him levitating a bag of flour in front of him. "I thought it over." He was grinning. "I'll take the job."

The grin stuck to Strings' flour and icing covered face reflected his pride. He lifted the face towel to his face and wiped off all of what was left of his first baking lesson. He didn't actually get to _bake_ anything; Pinkie Pie only taught him how to mix ingredients and taught him which said ingredients were best for the different kinds of baked goods. Besides the unexplainable batter explosion he caused, the session went by, in his opinion, pretty awesome. He wiped the rest of the flour from his nose and left the bathroom. Pinkie Pie was still cleaning up the kitchen when he got back. She worked a lot faster than he thought; all of the batter had disappeared from the walls and ceiling. Pinkie was now putting the dishes and books away now.

"All done!" she chimed as he walked in. She placed the last bowl in a cabinet. "You get an "A" for the day Strings!"

"Awesome!"

"Now it's your turn!"

"Huh?" Strings raised an eyebrow.

"Aren'tcha going to give me those guitar lessons?"

"Oh, right!"

The look Pinkie Pie was giving him made his hair stand on end. It took only a single second before both ponies were tripping over each other as they attempted to get out of the kitchen and up the stairs. They wrestled up the staircase, with Strings trying his best to hold the mare down. Pinkie Pie eventually managed to get out from under Strings as they both crawled up the last step. The Earth Pony flew down the hallway and was almost in her room before Strings grabbed her tail with his magic. He lightly tickled her nose as he walked passed her and victoriously into her room.

He set her down gently. "My first win!"

"Victory hug!"

Strings didn't get to react. Pinkie Pie already had him in a near bone crushing embrace. To the unicorn, though, it was the softest and warmest hug he ever got. He put his hooves right back around Pinkie Pie and savored it, completely unaware that she had lifted him up and was spinning him around.

Pinkie Pie was enjoying it just as much if not more. Of all of the ponies that had ever hugged her, Strings was by far the best hugger ever. The feeling in her tummy spread so that her entire body was feeling tickly. In her mind, there was nothing but him with her. There was no room, no floor, nothing. Just Strings.

Neither pony knew how long they were spinning, but eventually it did stop, to their dismay. Pinkie Pie put Strings back on the floor and when the room stopped spinning, bounced over to grab his guitar, which he leaned against the wall next to the window.

"Just a sec, Pink", Strings said, levitating it from her hooves and into his. He closed his eyes and concentrated on a special spell.

Pinkie Pie watched in awe as both his horn and guitar glowed. Two of the strings disappeared and the other four changed in size. The bridge and neck shrunk slightly as he resized it. When he was done altering it, he handed the instrument back to the pink mare. "I had to change'er back to a bass", he explained, "I was practicing with her as a six string for a while, and I forgot to change it back. Can't exactly teach you on a guitar I can't play."

Pinkie Pie nodded. "What do I learn first?"

"If you can learn fast you might get to learn a couple awesome beginners." He motioned for Pinkie Pie to sit on her bed and he sat beside her.

She turned so that they were now facing each other. His guitar sat in her lap.

"First thing's first", he said, "You have to know which string is which."

He pointed to the top one. "This one is the 'E' string. Then 'A', then 'D', then 'G'."

"E, A, D, G got it!" Pinkie Pie recited seriously. "Every Apple Does Good!"

"Nice", he complimented. He moved his hoof farther up the guitar. "Up here's the neck and these little bumps are frets. You put the hoof you don't strum with up here to make the notes you play make different sounds." Boy, was he glad his parents made him go to music school. He probably wouldn't even know where to begin without it! He grabbed Pinkie Pie's left hoof and placed it at one of the top frets and placed her right hoof in strumming position.

Pinkie Pie felt awkward sitting like that. Strings must've noticed.

"Yeah, that's how felt when I first held a guitar, too", he sighed, "Bummer, I know, but you get used to it."

"When do I get to play?" Pinkie Pie asked anxiously.

"Just a sec." He focused a bit of energy into his horn. It glowed at a constant rate. "Okay, go ahead and give it a try."

Pinkie Pie pushed her right hoof downward into the strings and a low "waaah" sound echoed in the room. "That sounded so cool!"

"Sure did", he agreed, "Do it again."

She plucked a different string, and got a different noise.

"Good."

Pinkie Pie's guitar lesson lasted for another hour, and ended when she mastered a simple, fretless song. She wore the proudest of looks when she gave his guitar back. During her lesson she learned the different ways to strum, and how to rotate her hoof to play single strings.

"You're a natural, Pink. Totally radical!" He put his bass back against the wall.

"Really?"

"You better believe it!" He hopped off the bed. He really wanted to show her how proud he was. "I think we should go celebrate!"

"Ooh ooh! I know where we can go!"

Strings didn't bother to ask, he only stuck his hoof out, allowed her to grab it and let her drag him out of Sugarcube Corner and into the cool, evening filled town.

**I didn't have time to read over this chapter for mistakes before I had to go to work. I'll take a look later when I get home. **

**Oh, and sorry about the small delay, I've been busy busy busy lately. Hope you enjoyed the chapter!**


	5. Karaoke Night

Karaoke Night

Strings couldn't believe that of all of the places in Ponyville, Pinkie Pie brought him to a karaoke club. He couldn't help but awkwardly chuckle himself to hiccups for being so out of place. He managed to get it together after a few ponies started to stare. He looked around. It looked like a regular hangout place. Everypony seemed to be so casual. A colt on stage was singing along to a pop song that didn't much appeal to the rock pony. There were many more mares in the place than colts, making him feel even more uncomfortable. His gaze stopped at Pinkie Pie, who was still ordering their food. He cracked a smile at the pink mare and sighed. _Even way over there, she's still so pretty... _To fight down the new blush, he shook the thought away. Pinkie Pie looked like she was really preoccupied with what she was ordering, leaving Strings to slip away from the table unnoticed. He snuck up to her and, when he was close enough, threw his hooves over her eyes.

"And five bags of candy!" she said without missing a beat. She reached around with her right hoof to foil Strings's plan by giving his side a tickle.

He jumped back with a slight yelp. "Hey, no fair!"

"All's fair in tickle war", she replied slyly.

"I'm gonna remember that." He stepped up to her side. "So, what're we getting for food?"

"I've got haydogs, fries, nachos, and tons of candy on the way!"

"No drinks?"

"Oh, yeah!" She turned back around.

"Pink lemonade!" they both shouted at the pony behind the counter. He cringed slightly, only used to one Pinkie Pie at a time.

"Hey, you like pink lemonade too!?" Pinkie Pie asked excitedly.

"Most radical drink ever!" he replied. The next thing from his mouth was on impulse. "I love the color pink", he blurted.

It was the first time since they had met that they both were blushing at the same time. Strings from embarrassment, Pinkie Pie from, well, that tickly feeling again. The blushes didn't stay for long, for they were booted from their respective faces by a tray thrust across the counter.

"Here ya go guys!" the stallion said before turning to take another order.

Strings levitated the tray from the counter and led Pinkie Pie back to their table. He scooted in the booth and to his surprise was forced over by Pinkie, who scooted in right beside him. As much as he liked her next to him, he asked, "Aren'tcha supposed to be on the other side?"

"If I sat over there, then I wouldn't be able to sit next to you silly!"

Strings' second blush rose to his cheeks. "Okay, then", he chuckled.

Pinkie Pie was enjoying how close they were. She had scooted so far that she was almost touching him. By now, she was so used to that tickly feeling that she barely even noticed it. At least, not over the empty feeling she was getting from barely eating all day. She quickly picked up a hoofull of fries and shoved them into her mouth while Strings went for the nachos. For a while, they didn't say or do anything but eat until their stomachs had been filled to an adequate capacity.

After sip of his lemonade, Strings asked, "So, Pink, why'd you bring me to a karaoke club? Gonna sing me a love song or something?"

"Oooh", she said with her mouth full of candy, "That's a great idea! And then YOU can sing a song!"

The conversation officially hit a brick wall with that statement. "Oh, no sorry, Pinkie Pie. I don't sing", he barely managed to say.

"It's easy!" Pinkie Pie chimed, "All you gotta do is just follow the words on the screen!"

"No Pink", he replied after a bite of his haydog, "I mean I CAN'T sing. It hurts ponies' ears…"

"In that case we can sing a duet!"

Strings almost choked on his drink. He coughed, "No, Pinkie, I can't—"

Pinkie Pie rolled her eyes. She knew how she could get him to sing. No pony could resist her persuasion. "Okay, I'll go sing by myself then!"

Strings cringed slightly, but it didn't affect him very much. He seriously didn't want to embarrass himself _that _much. "Can't wait! You have an awesome singing voice!"

Pinkie Pie didn't reply with her mouth full of food again. She barely even heard him. The song the pony on stage was singing had ended, leaving the stage empty. Pinkie Pie thought against enacting her plan just yet; she had to catch Strings off guard. Besides, an Earth Pony had already raced up to the screen to pick out her song to sing.

"What kind of song are you gonna sing?" Strings asked, looking over at her. He sipped his lemonade while he waited for her to answer.

She shrugged. "I'ma push the random button and sing the first song that pops up!"

"What if it's a song you don't like?"

"Then I'll just push it again!"

The thought of taking all night for picking a song gave Strings an idea. "Hey, can I pick it for you?" He didn't know it yet, but he walked right into a Pinkie Pie sized pony trap.

"You sure can!" Pinkie Pie shouted. "You pick it, I'll sing it! Just like that no questions asked!"

She was about to eat another piece of candy, when Strings levitated it right out of her hoof and put it in his mouth instead. "Mmm", he teased, "Blueberry."

She narrowed her eyes playfully, "You shall pay for this!"

"What are you gonna do about it?" he challenged. He levitated another blueberry chew up to his face.

Pinkie Pie shot forth and snatched the candy from the air with her mouth and chewed on it noisily. "That!"

Strings blinked. Pinkie Pie sure was full of surprises. "Hey! I was gonna eat that!"

Pinkie Pie held out the candy on her tongue. "'ere ya 'o!"

"No you keep it. I think it's happier in your mouth", Strings chuckled.

The lights in the club dimmed. Smaller lights in the back made the place glow violet.

"Hey, what's going on?" Strings looked around until the floor lights on the stage lit up the Earth Pony on stage. She was turquoise with two giant teal pigtails for a mane. She was wearing a black skirt with a blue ring around it and a blue-gray shirt. Electronic music started playing from the surround sound, giving cue to the regulars to stand and get ready to dance.

Pinkie Pie stood up and pulled Strings with her. She grabbed him at the right time. He couldn't object with his mouth full of hay fries. That didn't mean he couldn't resist. Pinkie Pie had to drag him into the middle of the dance floor in front of the stage. She made sure that they were directly in the middle of everypony so that he couldn't take off.

"Ready?" Pinkie asked when they finally stopped.

Strings looked around. All eyes were on the stage. The music picked up, and the room was filled with a quick cheer from the audience. "Ready for what?"

"To dance, silly. When somepony picks the Spotlight song, everypony has to dance." Pinkie Pie pulled a small instruction manual out of nowhere. "Club rules!"

_Dance? That's not too bad, except that I can't dance to this kind of music! _"Pink, I can't dance to this."

"It's easy!" Pinkie Pie swayed and hopped from hoof to hoof with the music. "Just do what I do!" She twisted and shuffled left.

Strings gulped. Around him, all of the other ponies were dancing along with the pony onstage. He watched Pinkie Pie dance while he tried to get a feel for the music, no matter how queasy it made him. Once he found that the dance repeated with the music, he managed to slowly start off. _Okay, I got this, let's see, left hoof left hoof, turn and hop…_

Pinkie Pie turned back around to see Strings awkwardly watching his hooves as he attempted to copy the stage pony. She smiled and gave the ground near his hooves a tap. He looked up to see her singing along with the song. A small blush appeared on his cheeks at how cute she was. She danced in front of him and amazingly, he found it was way easier to dance along with her. He turned and hopped from his right hooves to his left hooves, just like everypony else. He was enjoying himself, only vaguely aware of the song that was making him nauseous earlier. Then just like that, the song stopped. _That was a short song_, he thought disappointedly.

* * *

"Told you it was easy", Pinkie giggled back in the booth. They were sitting across from each other now, so they could talk easier.

Strings smiled. "Yep, and I had a radical time!"

"I'm going to go pick my song now!" Pinkie Pie bounced away to the song selector next to the stage, leaving Strings shaking his head after her. They had just got back and now she was on her way right back out there. He stretched and put his hooves behind his head when a thought hit him. _Wait, I'm supposed to pick her song._ _What if she picks random and another song like that pops up? Or a slow song, or an instrumental or something? Oh, man, I gotta stop her!_

"Pinkie Pie!" he called, galloping up from behind, "Pinkie—"

Pinkie Pie's final phase kicked in. She turned, grabbed the blue unicorn, and pulled him on stage.

"Pinkie Pie, what're you—"

"You're singing with me!" she cheered happily.

There was no arguing, just an escape plan. Strings made a beeline for the stage exit. Right before he was home free, a magic barrier prevented his escape. He looked around to see a unicorn pointing to a sign that read "No mind changes". Strings walked back slowly. Pinkie Pie had a microphone in her hooves and was motioning for him to take a place by her side. So much stress was flying through his mind. The pressure from all of the eyes on him was suffocating him. He was close to passing out when the opening drum solo blasted out from the speakers above him. He froze and listened. _I know this song!_

Pinkie Pie tapped his shoulder and pointed to the lyrics monitor set into the stage floor. The title read across the screen: "My Own Way by The Shooting Stars". He looked out over the sea of on looking ponies. He smiled and thought, _Luna…thanks. _He forced as much magic energy into his horn as he could. When enough was gathered, a plume of smoke discharged from it, just as the drum solo exploded with bass. When it cleared, everypony saw that Strings now had a black star covering his left eye. His guitar had been summoned from Pinkie Pie's room and his mane had flared out a little more.

The pink mare on stage with him gaped at the sight. He looked back and nodded his head toward the screen. Pinkie Pie followed the gesture and saw that she was going to miss the opening lyrics. She jumped, but didn't hesitate. She started the song off. There would be time to ask Strings the hundreds of questions later.

"I see the faces pass in almighty mass. Going one way, just passing through the day! But that's not me. I just cannot see, myself as one of these ordinary pon-ies!"

Strings stood on his hind legs and held himself up with his guitar to get ready for his part. Pinkie Pie went on.

"So I turn around, and I scream and shout…"

Strings raised his strumming hoof high above his head and linked his magic to his guitar. The words on the monitor turned blue, signaling that it was the second singer's turn. Strings didn't need it; he knew this song by heart. At one time, he brought his hoof down and slammed a loud, hard note and sang, "I want to blast out! I wanna rock out loud! I don't want to be the same, I wanna go my own way!"

He didn't care how bad he sounded; all he knew was that he wasn't going to let the song fail. Pinkie Pie, however, found that he was a great singer. Whatever he was saying about not being able to sing earlier just flew out of the window. She watched him shred in awe. She knew this was a different Strings. Something was definitely not the same about him on stage. Maybe it was how serious he was about making sure he didn't miss a note with the guitar. The lyrics changed color again to pink, and she followed along.

"They try to drag me down, bring me with the crowd. But I don't want to go and I'm going to make it knoo-oown. Grabbing my guitar, I'm making my mark!"

Strings dropped another bass-filled bomb with his guitar. "I'm gonna blast out! I'm going to rock out loud! I will be different! I will be magnificent!"

The crowd was now getting into the rhythm. They were jumping with the beat and shuffling with Strings's chords.

"I'm not ordinary, I'm more imaginary. These ponies criticize before my eyes. I just give a smirk, then I turn away, and show them my Cutie Mark."

"It's then I say, 'You see this Cutie Mark? It's something we all seek, and just like all us ponies, each one's special and unique.'"

Pinkie Pie grabbed the next verse. "I walk away, grab up my guitar, throw up my hooves, then scream and shout…"

Now the lyrics were purple. Strings upped the volume and nearly blew the windows out of the place. Together they sang the final chorus as loud as they could, "I'm blasting out! I'm rocking loud! I'm different and proud! I'm not the same!"

"And so on this day, I'm going my own…waaaaaayyy…my own way." they sang as the song faded out.

The ponies in the crowd erupted into a roar of applause and cheering.

* * *

Strings propped his guitar back against the wall from which he had summoned it for the song. He didn't wipe the star from his face just yet. He wanted to savor wearing it just a little longer. The memories drowned him with mixed feelings. He wanted to be happy for remembering the good times with that song, but wanted to cry through the sour feeling it left in his stomach. Strings pushed all of those away and focused on what happened just that night. _Man, that was so awesome…and Pink, geez, she sang better than…_

"That was superamazinglyawesomefying!" Pinkie Pie yelled from the threshold of her room. She grinned from ear to ear as she bounced over to him. She didn't say anything since they left the karaoke club, which was surprised even her. She was just so awestruck with his performance that she was left completely speechless. That, and it didn't seem like he wanted to talk much. He left right out of the building without even letting her know.

"It was just instinct", Strings chuckled. "Really, no big deal."

"No big deal!?" Pinkie screamed. "They made us permamembers! Almost no pony gets that!"

"Okay, then, it wasn't hard or really that special." Strings sighed. "YOU were the awesome one."

"Not as awesome as you!"

Strings wanted to tell her she out sang the original vocalist, but thought against it. So instead he flopped down on her bed. "You usin' this tonight?"

She shook her head. "It was fun sleeping on the floor last night! I wanna do it again!"

"Good. I wasn't getting up even if you tried pushing me", he teased.

"If I tickled you again you would!" Pinkie Pie held up her hooves, ready to strike.

Strings rolled over on his back and closed his eyes. "Please don't, I'm way too tired for that."

"You're just lucky I don't want to."

Strings wanted to say something, but a yawn came out instead. "What time is it?" When he got no reply he looked up to see that Pinkie Pie was nowhere to be found. "Pink?" He shrugged, figuring she probably had gone on a snack raid. He stretched and turned back over. He spotted the letter from his mother. He knew he needed to write the reply while he was thinking about it. The last thing he wanted to do was give her a heart attack with a late letter. He conjured up a sheet of paper and a pencil and began to write.

* * *

Pinkie Pie shivered as she hopped out of her bathtub. She took a quick bath, and didn't let the water heat up all the way. She was super eager to get back to Strings. Using a little Pinkie Power, she shook off the water and poofed her mane back into its usual, curly fashion. She bounced back to her room, knowing she had caught Strings off guard when she left. It was a small prank, but she was sure she still got him good.

On the inside of her room, Pinkie Pie saw Strings barely asleep on her bed. A devious smile rose to her face as she snuck across. She walked on the tips of her hooves so not to make any noise. When she made it to the side of the bed, she pounced.

Strings caught her off guard. He hurriedly rolled over and caught her in midair with a levitation spell. He held up his hooves. "I'm gonna enjoy this!"

"Noooooooo!" Pinkie Pie cried.

Strings tickled her mercilessly.

"Heehee!" she giggle-screamed, "No fair!"

"Ha!" Strings laughed, "All's fair in tickle war!"

He kept poking her sides until he was laughing so hard he lost concentration. The spell dissolved from around Pinkie's body. She fell out of the air and right on top of him. Luckily, she didn't hit very hard. Neither could move through the shock of her fall. Strings was the first to recover. Gently, he rolled her to his side.

"Hey, Strings?" Pinkie Pie sat up.

"Yeah?"

"Why did you bring your guitar on stage earlier?"

"Because I wrote that song", he answered. "A long time ago, I was in a band. The same band that played it first."

"The Shooting Stars."

"Uh huh", he yawned.

"Why do you have—"

"The star's my signature mark for the band. We all had one."

"That's so neat! Can I have one too?"

"Maybe…" Strings gave one more yawn before drifting off. The laziness in his body beat his stubbornness to stay awake.

Pinkie Pie took a look at her clock. It read eight-thirty. She thought it was weird for anypony his age to fall asleep so early, but shrugged and left to go say good night to the twins. Before she left out of the room, she walked back and threw her blanket over Strings. She watched him snuggle into the bed even more and sigh in his sleep with a comfortable smile.

For the oddest reason, the tickly feeling in her stomach and moved up to her lips, making her want to kiss him on the cheek. But, being Pinkie Pie, she managed to ignore it and left the room, wondering why the feeling was getting stronger the farther away she got from him.

Maybe her Pinkie Sense was going haywire…

**Fun trivia: The pony on stage during the first song was the ponysona of Hatsune Miku, my favorite Japanese artist. The song that Strings and Pinkie Pie sang on stage is an original work of mine. I wrote it some time ago and actually named the songwriter Bass Strings.**

**Oh! As a little incentive to look forward for the next chapter, I'll go ahead and give out the title. Chapter six of Pinkie Pie's Bass is The Fourth Favor.**

**Update in twelve days!**

**I almost got behind with this chapter, so it may look rushed. I'm hoping it came out okay.**

**Oh! Also, we're about to get hit with a tropical storm, so the next update may be delayed.**


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